Terror suspect, who is fighting deportation, was "refused permission" to depart the UK

Hate preacher Abu Qatada’s son says his father longs to LEAVE Britain and feels like a prisoner here.

The terror suspect’s eldest child revealed his father had made an ­official application to quit the UK but was turned down flat.

Qatada Qatada made his ­comments in an open letter on an Islamic website and his is the first time a family member has spoken out about the controversial case.

His father has fought for more than a decade to avoid deportation to Jordan, where he is wanted on terror charges.

The son wrote: “We have asked the Government to allow us to leave the UK for a third country, somewhere other than Jordan or the UK.

“However, they have refused and said they would fight to prevent us from leaving Britain to anywhere except to a prison in Jordan. Let no one be under the impression that we want to stay here after having suffered so much. We will ­persistently continue to try to leave this country legally.” He says his father “feels like a prisoner here”.

His words are likely to ­infuriate campaigners battling to boot out the 52-year-old cleric, who featured in videos found in a September 11 ­plotter’s flat. The Special Immigration ­Appeals Commission last month ruled Qatada should be released from jail after concerns he will not get a fair trial if he is sent to Jordan. Monitoring him costs £100,000 a week.

Home Secretary Theresa May says he is “a serious risk” to ­security and David Cameron admitted: “I am completely fed up that this man is still at large in our country.”

His son also complains that the £450,000 taxpayer-funded home in North London where the preacher, his wife and five children were taken to live this month is “small and filthy” and far from Islamic schools.

He writes: “We are just like a punching bag for anyone. Our father was the only one jailed; ­however, currently our whole family has ­become restricted. It is as though we have all now been imprisoned.”

The Home Office, which is to ­challenge the Commission’s decision, insists the house is suitable.